Radio Frequency (RF) modules often include male pin contacts for permitting electrical interconnections to be made to RF and DC/logic circuitry supported by the module. Various types of connectors are suitable for mating with such pins, including coaxial connectors. Coaxial connectors generally include a conductive outer housing containing a dielectric, with a cylindrical aperture through the dielectric capturing a mating female contact. The male pin contact, attached to the RF module, is inserted into the female contact which, together provide the center conductor of the connector. The ratio of the outer diameter of the center conductor to the inner diameter of the housing determines the impedance of the RF connection. Various mechanisms, such as screw threads, are suitable for mechanically coupling the RF connector housing to the RF module.
In many applications, such as phased-array antennas, RF modules include numerous male pin contacts, sometimes well in excess of one-thousand. Often in such applications, many RF connectors are supported by a single support structure, such as a plate or other type of holder, which is secured to the RF module.
The pins attached to an RF module are generally required to have very precise position tolerances, particularly in applications in which many RF connectors are supported by a single support structure. This is because tolerance variations are compounded when many RF connectors are supported in fixed positions relative to one another. Another critical parameter of the pins is that they extend from the RF module at a precise ninety-degree angle in order to ensure proper alignment with the respective RF connector during assembly. Assembly of an RF module to one or more RF connectors is time consuming due to the frailty of the pins and the conventional arrangement of including several RF pins, often closely spaced, on the module. Any tolerance variations can result in broken or bent pins, which may require that the entire RF module be replaced, thereby causing the yield of RF modules, which are often complex and expensive themselves, to suffer. Pins are often attached to an RF module by a brazing or soldering process, which tends to be rather expensive, particularly when strict tolerance requirements exist.